And my granny lived until she was 95 and smoked 45 cigarettes per day. I think we are using two different definitions of back up here though. Back ups are generally used to restore an original in the event of data loss, like you do with your DVDs and time machine etc. If you carry photos around on a flash drive or an iPad you are simply making a copy.

I do see where you are coming from with this. I think a tablet computer can do what you are looking for. I just think with flash missing, you won't have a full browser experience. I think you will miss the ability to run more than one app at the same time (although hopefully OS4 will solve that)

I also think the lack of camera is something you would miss from this if you are looking to use it as a multimedia device. If you are on skype chatting to someone then you would have to go to your iMac for webcam.

But like you said you are waiting for other offerings which is exactly the right thing to do

There is a 3G version coming out after IIRC. I hope they allow skype to skype calling over 3g on it though.

Now hold on... read my earlier post. I said iPad looks good but I would shop around. Besides, if I were an apple fanboi, I would have an iphone already.

fair enough. last part of the post retracted axman!

Mike thanks for the link. I like the Ipad but also this one:
Scribbler SC4000 Tablet PC

Nice... but err... 3.3lbs = 1.5kg...

The near future ?? Would be nice.

Well I just saw the picture LOL I want the Ipad and my husband says I'm a loser since nobody likes it...I know when I finally buy it then he is going to want to steal it ...

My view, for what it's worth - horses for courses. It's not a smartphone, it's not a netbook, it's not a laptop. Nor is it aimed at people who currently need any of those things.

I think they're shooting for what they see is a gap in the market - consumers who don't want / don't understand / are afraid of traditional computers, but are starting to need to do basic email, look at their digital photos, watch what their kids have put on YouTube, and have something that looks nice on the coffee table. In other words, my Mum.

If they've got it right, it'll open up this untapped market segment, sell a ton and we'll see loads of copycat devices springing up over the next couple of years. If not, it'll tank.

Whatever the case, I think it's missing the point to try and work out what it's replacing; they're trying a left-turn onto a new road, and hoping it leads somewhere. In this respect, I see it in the same way as the iPod circa 2001, with the same potential. I don't know whether that potential can be fulfilled, but it's going to make fascinating viewing.

was having a mosey through a few things on TechCrunch & came across the Chromium concept, i.e. what Googles slate/pad may look like :

http://pinoytutorial.com/techtorial/...-tablet-video/

I like the look & feel of this.

Edit : apparently this is in collaboration with HTC, which would make a lot of sense regards HTC tie up with Android.

Don't get me started onm this theme, the only person in teh world who couldn't use a MAC.

Exactly my point

I don't think all mothers would want to see what their children put on youtube

Jimmy Carr put it quite well:

"A guy invents the wheel and then comes back a year later with ... a bigger wheel."

Having watched the keynote in full now, i can see why some people would want the ipad. i think it actually has tremendous commercial potential for example the medical profession. i could see doctors really utilising such technology one day soon. I also think that future iterations of the ipad could make it more useful for the rest of the mac acolytes. its a real shame that they took out the front facing camera (recent reports note that the ipad has a space designed to incorporate the same sort of camera found in macbooks). it sure would be a treat to video ichat or skype on such a device.

unfortunately it still isnt completely mum friendly.... even though we are in 2010 almost no technology is really that simple that my mum could easily have operated it.

for myself though, i still cannot see me having an ipad. i will soon update my laptop and i can only imagine replacing it with another laptop or an imac... but thats another story (please apple bring out a new 30" cinema display to make my choice easier).

on the plus side though, one of the great things about the iphone was how third parties also drove the creative possibilities of the device through the app store, and im sure that several clever and useful apps, which we havent even thought of yet, will make their way to the ipad in the coming months.

im still really excited about this field of technology at the moment. i believe that multi touch and other emerging developments (eventual cheap and widespread use of much larger flash drives comes to mind) mean that the revolution may only just be beginning!

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krlock3.

can see where you are going with this, but tbh, there are already more specific & afforrdable devices pointing at these verticals (currently discussing an opportunity with a company that sells to logistics), the other major factor (imo) is durability & I can't see the iPad having the neccessary rugged build construction for this sort of market.

Another factor is that devices for this sort of work tend to be closed access; i.e. not open to internet, 3G (which you don't want in specific work areas) etc.

is a mass media device, looking for the masses, much the same as the much vaunted Airbook. It will sell, but not as well as other flagship products ... again my humble opinion only.

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the sun ain't shining no more ........

Doctors are already using pda's and the iphone. if they can slip it in the pocket of their white coat, it's a good thing. You can dictate, read papers and keep a copy of drug reference guides on your pda. If you have a web browser on your pda, you can even access records. (Something that makes hospital information security folk cringe). Many hospitals have laptops or tablet pc's that circulate with the docs on rounds and allow them to update records, receive results and order tests, diagnostics, etc. I guess one advantage of the iPad is the size... bigger to see text and images easier, but still easy to carry... maybe.

I have an iPhone. FOr what it is, I like it. I used to have a Treo650.I use the iPhone more as an organizing device than I did with the Treo. For me, an iPad would compete with an Amazon Kindle and as many have said, an iPod touch. I have the kindle reader on my iPhone, and it's ok, and I read pdf docs on my iPhone when I'm not near my computer. and iPad would make that much easier. If I could get a version of text to speech working, it would be that much better. Will I get one right away? Nah.

General usability will be a key issue, I'll probably get one just to see how one can use it around the home - and get some students to programm it.

One of the reasons I didn't buy the apple air? (apart from the fact that mky boss wouldn't pay for it?) my cuffs kept catching in the corners whilst typing.

Adobe hits back over Apple’s Flash comments
by Darren Allan

Remember how we reported at the start of the week about Steve Jobs unfavourable comments regarding Google?

Well, he also tarred Adobe in the same meeting, so reports state, calling the Flash developer “lazy” and the application “buggy”.

Which is why the iPad doesn’t support the web multimedia standard.

However, Adobe has now hit back at Apple, with CTO Kevin Lynch taking the time to address the issue on the company blog.

He began by saying: “Some have been surprised at the lack of inclusion of Flash Player on a recent magical device.”

And he went on to add that apparently Flash was designed with tablet computers in mind, some 15 years ago.

Lynch cited the fact that 85% of the “top web sites” contained Flash content, and that Apple was really missing out by failing to support it on the iPad (and indeed iPhone).

Lynch wrote: “We are now on the verge of delivering Flash Player 10.1 for smartphones with all but one of the top manufacturers. This includes Google’s Android, RIM’s Blackberry, Nokia, Palm Pre and many others across form factors including not only smartphones but also tablets, netbooks, and internet-connected TVs.”

Regarding the issue of Flash and instability, he later commented: “Regarding crashing, I can tell you that we don’t ship Flash with any known crash bugs, and if there was such a widespread problem historically Flash could not have achieved its wide use today.”

The comments thread on the post has certainly sparked a heated debate. You can have a read for yourself, if you’ve got some spare time, at:

http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations...t_and_app.html

Well if Citrix do this then the ipad might become a lot more useful.

http://community.citrix.com/pages/vi...geId=115343605

It would mean you could have a real desktop OS running on the citrix server and the ipad could become a good thin client.

Also there are already RDP clients for the iphone and so that would provide you another way of doing the same thing.

Have fun

Martin